Diplomats Fly Past Eagles

LANCASTER, Pa. – Franklin & Marshall junior John
Harrison set school records for career completions and passing
touchdowns as the Diplomats trounced Juniata 55-13 in a Centennial
Conference (CC) football contest on Saturday. Three of his four
touchdown strikes came in the second quarter when F&M lit up
the scoreboard for 28 points.

Harrison completed 14-of-21 throws on the day for 198 yards before
yielding the field to F&M frosh, E.J. Schneider. Harrison's
fourth pass of the day, an 11-yard catch and run by tailback Alan
Williams, marked the 53rd touchdown of Harrison's career. That gave
him sole possession of the record he has shared with Joe Coviello
'77 since last week's win at Dickinson.

Harrison's toss made up for a rare misfire on the game's first play
from scrimmage when the Eagles' Andrew Masullo picked him off.
Juniata hitched its wagon to Derek Kramer who ran through a dormant
Diplomats defense to set up a Gino Ramires touchdown toss to tight
end Ronnie Shrift. The touchdown was the Eagles first of the season
and last of the day.

Juniata answered Harrison's record throw with a field goal to take
a 10-7 lead to the end of the first quarter. Williams made sure it
didn't last long into the second. The junior took a handoff at the
five and won a footrace to the right pylon to make it 14-10.

His run opened up the offensive floodgates.

F&M scored aerial touchdowns on three of the next four
possessions. Jay Ridinger was on the receiving end of two of the
three touchdown strikes with Jarrell Diggs in between. Ridinger,
who reached the 1,500-career receiving yards plateau on Saturday,
ran a go route down the seam to give Harrison an easy strike to
make it 21-10.

Two possessions later, Harrison hit Diggs on a quick slant on third
and goal from the 10-yard line. On the next F&M possession,
Harrison appeared to hit Diggs again on a Hail Mary as the clock
expired, but the ball was knocked loose and into the hands of
Ridinger giving F&M a 35-10 lead at the break. On the drive
leading up to the close of the half, Harrison completed the 480th
pass of his career, topping Bill Meekings mark that stood since his
senior season came to a close in 1992.

Ridinger finished the day with seven catches for a career-high 155
yards. It was the fifth 100-plus yard performance of his career.
Diggs caught four passes for 32 yards.

While the offense was rolling along, the defense preyed on the
Eagles, piling up seven sacks, forcing and recovering three fumbles
and picking off a Juniata pass. Two of the turnovers ended would be
scoring drives for the Eagles, while one put six points on the
board for F&M. Facing third and 13, Ramires rolled out, but
could not escape Kyle Wengerter and Jordan Studevan. As Wengerter
was pulling the birds' quarterback to the ground, Studevan swiped
the ball from his hand. Donald Wiezik scooped the loose ball and
trotted 14-yards to paydirt for the Diplomats second touchdown
return of a recovered fumble this season.

In the third quarter, Kurt Rogers popped the ball from the hands of
Kramer on the one as he was headed in for a sure touchdown. Drew
Hutcheon fell on the loose ball in the end zone to eliminate the
threat. Freshman Chase Andreassi picked off Juniata backup George
Bivens in the end zone in the fourth quarter.

No Diplomat defender offered a better day than Kenny Provost. The
sophomore led all tacklers with nine stops, seven solo, including a
pair of sacks setting the Eagles back 19 yards.

Kramer led the Juniata offense with 75 yards on 20 carries, while
Ramires completed 14 of 24 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown.
Abram Mellinger caught six passes for 53 yards for the
visitors.

Franklin & Marshall moves to 3-1 (2-1 CC) with the win, while
Juniata falls to 0-4 (0-4 CC). The Diplomats return to action next
Saturday in Selinsgrove when F&M takes on Susquehanna for the
first time since the Crusaders joined the Centennial.